This yet another episode that was shown out of order and possibly the one that suffers the most for it. The only reason being that marketing wanted this to be a Halloween episode and for the midseason finale as a Christmas story.
Summary: Rapunzel and the Captain of the Guard are trapped in the Snuggly Duckling by a fierce storm; the building turns out to be haunted by its former owner, Ruthless Ruth. The Captain and the thugs attempt to escape, but the pub is surrounded by magic and there is no escape until they give Ruth what she wants. Rapunzel follows the clues and finds that despite Ruth's reputation as the "worst thug that ever lived", she did also have a dream; to hear her song being sung by someone else.
Leaving Rapunzel in Charge in Queen for a Day No Longer Makes Sense
Frederic discovers Rapunzel’s diary and reads it behind her back. This prompts him to fear for her safety and ups the security around her. This is suppose to feed into his more extreme actions in the finale. By placing it here however, Frederic no longer trusts Rapunzel on her own and therefore shouldn’t trust her to run the whole kingdom without him for several days. Thereby leaving the viewers to scratch their heads when he does just that in a few episodes time.
This is also presumably where he finds out about Varian’s connection to the rocks and Cassandra’s part in Rapunzel’s secret escapades. This knowledge eventually leads him to persecute both, but there is now this weird delay in between him finding out and his response. Because, Quirin or no Quirin, Frederic wouldn’t hesitate to silence Varian. We already know from the pilot and from In Like Flynn, that the king isn’t above forcefully separating families to gain what he wants.
Also, This is Abuse
I shouldn’t have to say this, but invading your child’s privacy by reading their diary, journal, personal blog, or what have you, without their permission is abusive behavior. The show does not treat this as being a big of deal as it should. Rapunzel acts a little angry when she first find out, but then never calls her father out on this clear abuse of power.
Filler Fatigue is a Real Thing
On it own, this is an okay episode, but people no longer really watch tv in short self contained bursts, especially if the show promises to have an ongoing arc. Ergo, you need to balance less important non-plot episodes with the bigger story shakeups. One of the consequences of shuffling the episodes around is that the front of half of the season is overloaded with filler and the pacing is now off. Meaning that you risk losing your audience as they grow bored of watching the less tension filled episodes waiting for the more interesting plot to kick back up.
Context is Once Again Lost
There’s flooding going on during this episode and it’s so bad that people are being evacuated. Well for starters, this probably should have been shown to us and not told. But also, Varian is meant to be out there in that storm right now.
If this had aired when it was meant to, then this a scene that is meant to act the same as Pascal’s Story and Big Brother’s of Corona. Showcasing everyone’s hypocrisy in how they treat Varian.
Frederic will bend over backwards to keep his daughter safe but will not lift a finger to help another child in need. In fact he’ll even place that child in danger, like trying to arrest him or driving him away from his home during a storm, in order to supposedly keep Rapunzel safe and to personally save face.
But since this is now being shown before Queen for a Day, that context is now lost and you’re not going to keep it mind when Quest for Varian arrives and you see Frederic attempt to do those things.
I’m Not a Fan of This Song
I know it has its supporters, and I can understand why they would like it; it’s just that’s its too silly for me and only highlights the tonal issues that the show has. The melody is nice but the lyrics are too tone deaf. It’s trying to go for off the wall dark humor, but it’s not succeeding because it’s neither absurd enough nor disturbing enough to hit that sweet spot. Unlike, for instance, Menken’s earlier horror comedy musical, Little Shop of Horrors.
Also one can not ‘die of shame’. That’s just stupid and undermines the tension of the scene. You can die of shock, which you might go into if you receive a sudden fright, but that’s not the same as getting stage fright. It’s hard to take the show seriously when it pulls crap like this out of nowhere. Yet, it’s been stated several times by the series creators that they want to the viewers to do just that.
Someone also pointed out on the discord server, that this song winds up undermined its own message, and the message of both the movie and the show, by having Ruth physically die trying to achieve her dream. Had she not tried at all and then died unfulfilled, it would have made more sense.
Rapunzel’s Character Development is Undermined
Rapunzel gets only one arc in this whole show. In season one she has to learn to be more assertive about her own live choices. This episode is meant to tie into that arc, but by having it shown earlier she now walks back on her new found resolve more so than she would have post Queen for a Day.
Yes, she still would be unwilling to confront her father, but she should be more capable of standing up to the guard and making her ideas heard after this episode. Which of course doesn’t happen in the midseason finale. So, once again, we have Rapunzel not actually learning anything.
Conclusion
I honestly think this episode is boring. I know others that do like it and I can understand why, as on its own it’s fine. But there’s just nothing here that engages me. Perhaps if I ever watched the series in its intended order it might fair better, but who knows.
This yet another episode that was shown out of order and possibly the one that suffers the most for it. The only reason being that marketing wanted this to be a Halloween episode and for the midseason finale as a Christmas story.
Summary: Rapunzel and the Captain of the Guard are trapped in the Snuggly Duckling by a fierce storm; the building turns out to be haunted by its former owner, Ruthless Ruth. The Captain and the thugs attempt to escape, but the pub is surrounded by magic and there is no escape until they give Ruth what she wants. Rapunzel follows the clues and finds that despite Ruth's reputation as the "worst thug that ever lived", she did also have a dream; to hear her song being sung by someone else.
Leaving Rapunzel in Charge in Queen for a Day No Longer Makes Sense
Frederic discovers Rapunzel’s diary and reads it behind her back. This prompts him to fear for her safety and ups the security around her. This is suppose to feed into his more extreme actions in the finale. By placing it here however, Frederic no longer trusts Rapunzel on her own and therefore shouldn’t trust her to run the whole kingdom without him for several days. Thereby leaving the viewers to scratch their heads when he does just that in a few episodes time.
This is also presumably where he finds out about Varian’s connection to the rocks and Cassandra’s part in Rapunzel’s secret escapades. This knowledge eventually leads him to persecute both, but there is now this weird delay in between him finding out and his response. Because, Quirin or no Quirin, Frederic wouldn’t hesitate to silence Varian. We already know from the pilot and from In Like Flynn, that the king isn’t above forcefully separating families to gain what he wants.
Also, This is Abuse
I shouldn’t have to say this, but invading your child’s privacy by reading their diary, journal, personal blog, or what have you, without their permission is abusive behavior. The show does not treat this as being a big of deal as it should. Rapunzel acts a little angry when she first find out, but then never calls her father out on this clear abuse of power.
Filler Fatigue is a Real Thing
On it own, this is an okay episode, but people no longer really watch tv in short self contained bursts, especially if the show promises to have an ongoing arc. Ergo, you need to balance less important non-plot episodes with the bigger story shakeups. One of the consequences of shuffling the episodes around is that the front of half of the season is overloaded with filler and the pacing is now off. Meaning that you risk losing your audience as they grow bored of watching the less tension filled episodes waiting for the more interesting plot to kick back up.
Context is Once Again Lost
There’s flooding going on during this episode and it’s so bad that people are being evacuated. Well for starters, this probably should have been shown to us and not told. But also, Varian is meant to be out there in that storm right now.
If this had aired when it was meant to, then this a scene that is meant to act the same as Pascal’s Story and Big Brother’s of Corona. Showcasing everyone’s hypocrisy in how they treat Varian.
Frederic will bend over backwards to keep his daughter safe but will not lift a finger to help another child in need. In fact he’ll even place that child in danger, like trying to arrest him or driving him away from his home during a storm, in order to supposedly keep Rapunzel safe and to personally save face.
But since this is now being shown before Queen for a Day, that context is now lost and you’re not going to keep it mind when Quest for Varian arrives and you see Frederic attempt to do those things.
I’m Not a Fan of This Song
I know it has its supporters, and I can understand why they would like it; it’s just that’s its too silly for me and only highlights the tonal issues that the show has. The melody is nice but the lyrics are too tone deaf. It’s trying to go for off the wall dark humor, but it’s not succeeding because it’s neither absurd enough nor disturbing enough to hit that sweet spot. Unlike, for instance, Menken’s earlier horror comedy musical, Little Shop of Horrors.
Also one can not ‘die of shame’. That’s just stupid and undermines the tension of the scene. You can die of shock, which you might go into if you receive a sudden fright, but that’s not the same as getting stage fright. It’s hard to take the show seriously when it pulls crap like this out of nowhere. Yet, it’s been stated several times by the series creators that they want to the viewers to do just that.
Someone also pointed out on the discord server, that this song winds up undermined its own message, and the message of both the movie and the show, by having Ruth physically die trying to achieve her dream. Had she not tried at all and then died unfulfilled, it would have made more sense.
Rapunzel’s Character Development is Undermined
Rapunzel gets only one arc in this whole show. In season one she has to learn to be more assertive about her own live choices. This episode is meant to tie into that arc, but by having it shown earlier she now walks back on her new found resolve more so than she would have post Queen for a Day.
Yes, she still would be unwilling to confront her father, but she should be more capable of standing up to the guard and making her ideas heard after this episode. Which of course doesn’t happen in the midseason finale. So, once again, we have Rapunzel not actually learning anything.
Conclusion
I honestly think this episode is boring. I know others that do like it and I can understand why, as on its own it’s fine. But there’s just nothing here that engages me. Perhaps if I ever watched the series in its intended order it might fair better, but who knows.
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